Derry court: Men convicted over illegal republican parade lose appeal

PARADE TAKES PLACE

The April 2018 parade made its way to Derry City Cemetery

Ten men convicted of taking part in an illegal republican parade in Londonderry on Easter Monday 2018 have failed in a bid to overturn their convictions.

The men were convicted in April of taking part in the parade in the city's Creggan area on 2 April 2018.

Judge Philip Babington told Londonderry Crown Court that he was upholding the convictions

He reduced a £750 fine imposed on each of the men to £500.

"They have been convicted of taking part in an illegal procession," Judge Babington said.

"I am satisfied they did that. I am satisfied the police did their best to try to prevent the illegal parade from taking place in that they reminded the applicants it was not a notified parade."

Judge Babington said that by appealing both the convictions and fines, the appellants had made the prosecution prove the case.

"I am satisfied the appellants knew exactly what they were doing," he said.

"Having said that I am also satisfied that the march or parade was completely peaceful, although there was some disorder on the streets which the appellants were not involved in," Judge Babington told the court.

"All of this could have been avoided if they had simply submitted notification to the Parades Commission."

The men, all with addresses in the city, who failed in their appeal were:

  • Joseph Barr, 31, of Sackville Court;

  • Gearoid Cavanagh, 31, of Northland Road;

  • Jason Ceulemans, no age given, Long Tower Court;

  • Gary Hayden, 47, of Tyrconnell Street;

  • William McDonnell, 33, of Harvey Street;

  • Paul McIntyre, 52, of Ballymagowan Park;

  • Patrick Mellon, 27, of John Field Place;

  • Thomas Ashe Mellon, 43, of Rathmore Road;

  • John Patrick Nash, 66, of Fergleen Park;

  • Christopher O'Kane, 46, of Iniscairn Road.

Defence barrister Eoghan Devlin said he was not disputing the police evidence.

However, he submitted that the fine of £750 imposed on each of the appellants was "a heavy price for someone to pay".

He added: "They took part in the parade without dotting the eyes and without crossing the tees. Another judge in another Magistrate's Court in a similar type of case imposed a conditional discharge."